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S 3?» E E C H 



OF 



HON. DANIEL E. SICKLES, OF N. Y., 

ON 

THE STATE OF THE UNION, 

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, DEC. 10, 18G0, 



The motion to excuse Hon. Mr. Hawkins, of Florida, from serving on the Committee of 

one from each State, to which was referred so much of the President's 

Message as relates to the secession of States from the Union. 



Mr. SICKLES said : 

Mr. (Speaker : I will not be gviilty of the presumptiou of supposing that 
auylhiiig that I can say b_y Tray of appeal to the gentleman from Florida will 
change his deliberate determination, or that anything I can address personally 
to the House will influence the vote upon this question ; but I have believed, 
as my distinguished colleague [Mr. John Cochrane] thought the other day, 
that the gentleman from Florida, and the members, at least upon this side of the 
House, would listen to an appeal in the name oFithe city of New York ; and it is 
only, sir, as a Representative of that city, in the hope of giving expression to 
something of the deep and universal solicitude whi^n pervades the heart of that 
metropolis in this great crisis, that I would venture for a moment to claim the 
attention of the House. 

The Constitution under which we live was inaugurated in that city from the 
lips of Washington. One of the earliest votes it gave was for Thomas Jefferson ; 
and the vote of that city decided the election of Mr. Jefferson, and therein the 
foundation of the Democratic party. It sustained, throughout, the administra- 
tion of Madison. When treason lifted its head in other places, no voice but the 
voice of patriotism and loyalty was heard to pass the borders of the city. It 
sustained the administration of Jackson through all the struggles, throughout 
all the grave controversies which then imperiled the Union of these States. Not 
to speak of later and magnificent proofs of its devotion to constitutional states- 
men and policy, the city has never given a vote that has looked to one section 
in disparagement of another. Every instinct, every thought, every purpose of 
the city of New York is, as its record proves, national, patriotic, American. It 
is in the name, then, of such a people, with such a past, that I would venture 



" / . .$?«-•■. 

to appeal to men on all sides of this Chamber for that moderation, that devotion 
to duty, yes, even for the self-sacrifices, which are necessary in this crisis. 

Mr. Speaker, one of the great dangers of the day is that the country has not 
uuderstood, and does not understand, the extent of the peril in which it is placed. 
Illusions have usurped the place of reason in the popular mind. These illusions 
beguile us for the moment, only to plunge us into graver situations. Does any 
man on this floor suppose, that if, in the mouth of October, the masses of the 
North could have realized what they now see to be the sad truth, we would stand 
noiv where we are, on the verge of dissolution ? No man who knows the Ameri- 
can people has the credulity to believe that. The country has been fatally de- 
ceived, and some of these illusions possess us even now. One of them is that 
this Union can be preserved by force ; men believe that although we may be at 
the moment menaced by disunion, and although incipient movements toward it 
may be attempted without interference, and may be, perhaps, brought to the very 
verge of consummation without opposition, yet at last the strong arm of power 
will interpose and stay the work. I, for one, Mr. Speaker, have never for a 
moment entertained such a thought. It is not the opinion of the people whom 
I represent; and I must say to you, in all solemnity, that while the city of 
New York will cling to the Union to the last; while we will look on the last 
hour of its existence as we would upon the setting sun if we were never to see it 
more; yet when the call for force comes — let it come whence it may — no man 
will ever pass the boundaries ot the city of New York for tlie purposo of waging 
war against any State of this Union, which, through its constituted authorities, 
and sustained by the voice of its people, solemnly declares that its rights, its 
interests, and its honor, demand that it should seek safety in a separate existence. 
I mean by that, sir, not to class myself among those who do not love the Union, 
for it has no more loyal citizens than those of the city of New York, for whom I 
undertake to speak to- day. I only mean to discharge my duty in endeavoring 
to contribute something towards dispelling the hallucination that exists in many 
places — yes, sir, in distinguished places — that the Union is to be preserved by 
armies. The Union can be made perpetual by justice — it cannot be maintained 
an instant by force. If these truths had been graven deep in the hearts of the 
people, North, East, and West, and Jiad led to the conscientious recognition of 
constitutional obligations, all would have been well ; and until these truths are 
recognized throughout the laud we cannot have peace. 

Jefferson said, "every State must judge for itself of the infraction of the com- 
pact, and of the mode and measure of redress." His authority should be poten- 
tial with the Republicans, for they profess a pharasaical sort of respect for his 
opinions. But it is said that secession is revolution. Be it so. If it be a mode 
of revolutionary retaliation, it is not the less true that the revolutionary initiative 
has preceded secession, in the le2:islation and policy of the dominant party in the 
Northern States. Secession is the consequence, not the cause, of a condition of 
lifairs which has made a longer adhesion to the Union incompatible with the 
welfare of some of its members. This conflict has been produced by the deter- 



3 J, 

mination of the majority to use its power, ac(iuircrl within the forms of the Con- 
stitution, for purposes subversive of its substance. The fatal decree luis ^'onc 
forth that the riouth is forever excluded from the Territories. How nmch the 
South loses or the North gains — whether it is a practical or au abstract grievance, 
are themes past discussion ; I will only affirm of it that it is tlie overthrow of 
the Constitution by the mere arbitrary will of the majority. If the majurity will 
signalize its control of the government by aggression, the minority will not suiTer 
the usurpation to become a precedent by submission. The fundamental idea of 
the Constitution is the equality of the States and the equal rights of the citizens 
thereof, one with the other, in the Union and in all its possessions, privileges, 
and advantages. When this principle no longer controls the government, rcvo- 
lution has already done its work. And it is then a question for each State to 
decide for itself, in view of all its obligations to civilization and to the opinion ot 
mankind, whether it will linger in the Union and endeavor to restore the equili- 
brium, or whether its interests will be better promoted out of the Union. 

What is secession? It is the act of a sovereign State, declaring its indepen.l- 
ence, consummated by its citizens acting through their duly constituted authorities. 
It is not nullification, nor insurrection, nor sedition, nor invasion, nor is it the act 
of a mob. It is the act of sovereignty. It is not, therefore, an act against which 
the Federal Government may employ any of the force with which it is invented by 
the Constitution for the maintenance of peace and tranquillity within the Union. 
It follows, then, that to exert the military and naval power of the remaining 
States against a State which has renounced the Union, is a declaration of war. 
To what cud shall we make war against a State which has been a member of the 
Union ? Surely it could not be expected that the most successful prosecution of 
hostilities would promote the reconstruction of the Confederacy, or persuade the 
seceding State to return. Shall we seek to subdue it, and hold it as a mere ter- 
ritory, by conquest '{ This Avould be repugnant to the theory of our Government, 
which has never acquired territory without compensation, nor compelled the 
allegiance of independent States against their consent. It is equally in conflict 
with the principle, now generally recognized in Europe, acknowledging the right 
of States to determine by universal suff"rage, not only their form of government, 
but the transfer of their allegiance from one authority to another. This principle 
has been illustrated by contemporaneous events in France, Tuscany, ^lodeua, 
Farma, Naples, Lombardy, Sardinia, Savoy, and Nice. And it has been formally 
recognized by Great Britain. If the purpose of such a war be to destroy the 
power of the seceding State as a foreign enemy, let us at least wait for evidence 
of its antagonism. And if the object be to obtain a treaty of amity and inter- 
course, placing our citizens upon an equal footing with those of the most favored 
nations, all this would doubtless be conceded without war. We mu.~t not seek 
subjects where we should only look for allies. 

Secession is the last dread alternative of a free State when it ha^ to choose 
between liberty and injustice. In our Federal system the recognized right of 
secession is a conservative safeguard, it is the highest constitutional and moral 



guarantee against injustice; and therefore, if it had been always aud universally 
acknowledged as a rightful remedy, it would have eoutribu^ed more than all else 
to perpetuate the Union, by compelling the observance of all their obligations on 
the part of all the States. The opposite dogma, which is so extensively believed 
at the North, that no matter what wrongs a State may have to enduie, it may 
aud ought to be compelled by force to remain in the Union, even as a conquered 
dependency, is a most dangerous heresy, in our system of government, and has 
contributed largely to the existing anarchy. 

Another illusion, Mr. Speaker, is, that the responsibility of dealing with this 
crisis, aud that the power to deal with it, is in the South, This is not so. The 
southern people have their share of responsibility. Deep and heavy it is, I am 
sure ; and none are more sensible of it than tbey who carry the burden. I have 
no doubt they will act in full view of all their just responsibilities. But, sir, 
the southern Representatives on this floor cannot, if they would, no matter what 
personal sacrifices they may deem it their duty to make, arrest the movement 
which has already enlisted the support of the great masses of the southern 
people — certainly the greater part of the population of several important States, 
and sufficient to precipitate the most dreadful events upon us. I believe, the 
people of the city of New York believe, that the responsibility of dealing with 
the existing state of things, and the power to deal with it effectively, rest alone 
with the Republican leaders ; with those who have just achieved power in the 
Federal Government; with those who control the Legislatures of northern States. 
There the responsibility rests. The country will place it there; Europe and 
America will place it there; history will place it there. Whatever the conse- 
quence may be, in the judgment of history and in the estimation of posterity, 
they will be held responsible. I think the country will regard the absolute 
silence which the Republican leaders, with a few honored exceptions, have thus 
far preserved as at least contemptuous, if not reckless of the dearest interests of 
the nation. But that is a question for them to consider. 

When the pioneer sees the billows of flame rolling over the burning prairie, 
he does not waste the precious moments in a hopeless struggle against the intan- 
gible foe ; but he hastens to his cabin, and, gathering around him his femily, 
leads them to a place of security. So the South, when the cry of extermination 
against their institutions has reached their frontiers; when the slave already 
hears across the border the whispering emissary of insurrection, who has been 
suffered unrebuked to proclaim his infamous plots aloud in the streets and 
churches of the North ; now, when the family and fireside appeal for protection, 
is this a time to ask the representatives of southern States to abandon their 
measures of self-defense, and resume the weary task of persuading the dema- 
gogues and the fanatics of other States to undo the irreparable wrong which has 
been committed ? No, no. Let the representatives of the aggressive States, at 
the other end of the Capitol, and here, speak to their people. Let the Legisla- 
tures of the northern States be convened, aud let them act. Let the sealed lips 



6 ^J^ 

of the Medusa head at Springfield be opened, and send back to tlicir caverns the 
ma 1 winds which are driving our good ship of Sfatc to destruction. 

Again, I s^}', those who arc resp )nsible in this crisis must not be allowed to hide 
themselves nor to shrink from their duty We mu-t keep steadily in vi< w tho^c 
with whom the power rests to rescue the country from its peril; and therefore I do 
not concur in some of the criticisms which have been made upon the organization of 
this committee. I would be pleased to see the honorable gentleman from Ohio 
who last addressed the House [Mr. A''allandigiiam] upon the committee. I 
would be pleased to see the distinguished gentleman from Illinois [Mr. McCler- 
nand] likewise upon the committee. My constituents would have been glad to 
be assured of their knowledge, their assiduity, tlieir {latriotism, in the councils 
of that committee; but these gentlemen, unfortunately, arc not in a position to 
speak for the Legislatures of Ohio and Illinois; and I think it was wise, I think 
it was eminently proper and just in the Speaker, to place upon that committee 
leading members of the dominant party of this House and of the couniry; and 
especially was it right to place upon that committee, from each State, men iden- 
tified with the party that controls the legislation of tie State. So far as this 
has been done by the Speaker, I am prepared to commend his action in the dis- 
charge of his difficult and delicate duty. 

It is suggested to me, as a cheering sign, that none of the gentlemen on the 
Republican side of the chamber have asked to be excused from service on this 
committee. It is regarded as an evidence that they are vrilHog to meet the issue ; 
that they are prepared to deal with the questions of the day one way or 'the other; 
that they are prepared to confer with their people at home, and see if there be 
such assurance of concession as will be ju.st to the South and will enable us to 
go on together as one people ; or whether, on the other hand, it is impos.'-ible to 
preserve peace between the sections; that there is no hope left for the Confed- 
eracy; that the party controlling the legislation of the northern States is willing 
to take the responsibility, before God and the country, of breaking up the Gov- 
ernment rather than tolerate slavery within the Union. I am glad, therefore, 
that these gentlemen have been placed upon this committee. If I were to allow 
myself to make any criticism upon the composition of the committee, it would be 
the expression of a regret that gentlemen even more prominent — more ultra, if 
you will; more closely identified with the real life and strengtli of the llepubli- 
can party — were not placed upon ir. 1 would like to see in this House, and in 
the Senate, committees composed largely of men who are authorized to speak for 
the Kepublican party ; of men who are intimate in the councils of the President 
elect; of men whose voice is potential in the Legislatures of their respective 
States; and then, if they are willing to bring before this Congress a report 
recommending measures which gentlemen from the South can accept, and go 
home to their constituents and ask them to accept, there is some prospect, at least 
some possibility, of emerging from this crisis with dignity, with success, and 
with honor. Otherwise there is none. The sad question that we will have alone 



to consider then will be, laow to terminate, or liow to reconstruct this work 
which was so gloriously begun, and which has been, thus far, so successfully 
conducted. 

Mr. Speaker, T hear a great deal said of propositions to amend the Constitu- 
tion. I trust that there may be some reason to expect justice and conciliation 
through that channel. But, sir, I have a deep distrust of the capacity of this 
generation, and especially of any of the men of the Republican party, from whom 
the denunciations of the present Constitution have come, to make a Constitution 
that shall succeed where the genius, the wisdom, and the patriotism of Wash- 
ington and Madison and Hamilton failed. What is the real cause of our present 
trouble ? It is a disregard of the obligations of our Constitution. Obey the Con- 
stitution we have, cherish it, cleave to it as an article of faith, and you will have 
peace again. If that had been done always, this calamity never would have come 
upon us. But if there be not enough of conscience among the people to obey the 
Constitution made sacred by the ini<piration of our fathers, where will you look 
for the sanctions that will preserve inviolate a Constitution manufactured by 
Giddings ani Seward and Sumner. Sir, I despair of seeking in the North any 
public cons3ieuce that would have more reverence for the work of this generation 
than for the work of the men of the heroic age of the Republic. 

The great evil of the times is the obdurate refusal to recognize the binding 
force of constitutional provisions. The people have been taught this by reckless 
leaders now in power in most of the States, and soon to claim the power of the 
Federal Government; and it is upon them that the responsibility rests in this 
emergency. They have striven, in speeches and essays elaborately prepared by 
the midnight lamp, to alienate the North and the South. These insidious ap- 
peals are written or revised by those who believe that private opinion is superior 
to constitutional obligations — the higher law — put forth here and sent from 
this Capitol in untold millions, to undermine the foundations of fraternal good 
faiih. Thus, sir, by teaching untruth to the people they have been made to be- 
lieve that their consciences were not bound by the Constitution or the law of the 
land. In the name of Heaven, how idle it is to talk, in the face of such a public 
opinion, of amending a Coustitution, when none of those who follow the leaders 
to whom I refer, care whether it is obeyed or not ! What a mockery it would be 
to so before the Legislatures of States which have "personal-liberty-laws" upon their 
stal^ute-books, and ask them for an amendment to the Constitution ! When men 
will keep such laws in force after they have taken a soletnn oath to support the 
Constitution, can you believe any pledge they will make? Will you allow them 
to deface, bv incongruous amendments, the symmetry of a Constitution which 
they have defiantly violated? Such men are well fitted to destroy a nation; 
they cannot save it, they will not give it peace. 

No, sir, the work must begin deeper than that. The same teachers who have 
led the minds of the people to this unbelief, the same leaders who have enticed 
the people to the work of demolishing the existing Constitution, must again 
revive in them the conscience that will preserve and obfy a Constitution. 
The Democratic party cannot do this; the Democratic speakers and Representa- 
tives and Senators cannot do this; for we have, in every canvass, from every 
hustino-s, from every newspaper, and through every legitimate channel, warned 
the people against the consequences of the course which they have been pursuing. 
Th^re is no need, therefore, for guarantees or concessions from that quarter; but 
the country will look again and again, and will never cease to look to the leaders 
of the dominant party in this country for the measures, for the teachings, for 
the appeals which will prevent the demon of anarchy from making havoc in our 
land. 



7 ^i" 

Mr. Speaker, why may not the President elect speak to the nation, especially 
to his supporters in the aggressive States? lie is secure in his election. The 
electoral colleges have met. There is no fear now, as was suggested some time 
at'O, that he might lo-e his office hy opening his lips. The electoral colleges have 
met, and their votes cannot be recalled. Sir, I hope that, it is not beneath the 
dignity of the occasion, or the gravity of the subject, for me to suggest an illustra- 
tion of my view in respect of the influence which could be exercised by words of 
conciliation from Mr. Lincoln. I believe, that among the chief causes which have 
produced the present state of aflPairs, has been the desire for power on the part of a 
new party, and the hope that they could most successfully obtain it by an appeal 
to the prejudices of the North against slavery. It is power that they want. It 
is power that they h^ve secured. It is power that they wish to keep. Patriotism 
will sway many of xMr Lincoln's supporters; but the thirst for power will control 
more. JS^ow, sir, to illustrate what I think with reference to the controlling mo- 
tives which are producing this state of things, I believe that if Mr. Lincoln ^yould 
cause it to be made known to all the applicants for office under his Administra- 
tion, that he will not entertain the application of any man who is in favor of the 
so-called personal liberty laws, or opposed to the faithful execution of the fugitive 
slave law— if he will do that, plainly and in good faith, through his representative 
men, you will not hear the word slavery for the next four years from the llcpub- 
lican party North. East, or West. 

In this remark, I protest that I mean only an illustration of what I consider to 
be the real power of the leaders in this anti-slavery crusade, and of their ability 
to control those who direct the legislation and the organization of the liepublican 
party. The rank and file, many of them, have other and more disinterested mo- 
tives than the pursuit of office; but the men who will sock office in the Picpubli- 
can party, nro tiic men who coutrol its movements everywhere, its public expres- 
sions, and its public action. It is only necessary to make them understand that 
they must go to work and rescue the country from the peril to which it has been 
brought by some of their own leaders, so that they may have a Treasury and a 
Blue Book left from which there are offices to select and patronage to bestow ; 
and then you will escape the perils of dissolution by the very means through which 
the evU has been brought upon u^, and not until th«n. 

Now, sir, as to the attitude of the city of New York. TTe will cling to this 
Union while there is a hope left fur its preservation, and we will hold the guilty to a 
just accountability for whatever woo shall betide the Confederacy ; but when there 
is no longer a Union, proud as we are, and have been always, of our position as 
it'^ metropolis, read^ to bury everything like sectional prejudice, ready always to 
contribute in all things to maintain its honor and preserve its integrity at home 
and abroad; yet, when this Union is no more, we will rot consent to remain the 
submissive appanage of a Puritan province. We will assert our own iudependence. 
The North will then see and feel that secession, althmgh it may begin at the 
South, will not end at the South. Sir, there is no sympathy now between the 
city and the State of New York ; not the least, nor has there been for ytars. The 
city of New York is now a subjugated dependency of a fanatical and puritanical 
State government, that never thinks of the city except to send its tax gatherers 
among us, or to impose upon us hateful officials, alien to our interests and sympa- 
thies, to eat up the substance of the people by their legalized extortions. Such 
a'-e the relations which have existed for years between the city of New York and 
the State — ever since the present dominant party in that State has been in power. 
That party has a standing army of policemen in our city, which we have to pay 
for. Its Legislature has forced upon us taxation to tlie amount of millions to 
maintain a State government which never approaches us except to oppress us. 



8 

Between such communities there can be no sympathy, no feeling of fraternity. There 
is no loyalty in the city to the Sta^e. Nothing has prevented the city of New 
York from assert-ng her right to govern herself, except that provision of the Federal 
Constitution which protects a State from being divided without its own consent. 
If we had not been thus restrained by the Constitution — and every word of it is 
sacred to us — we would long ago, in accordance with the desire of three-fourths of 
our people, have bought in independence the only escape from a hateful govern- 
ment. 

What I say to you now is no new thought in the city of Npw York. It has 
been the cherished theme of our citizens for years past. Our city has been 
broughtto the very verge of anarchy and civil war by the outrages and insults 
of the State government; armed men have been marshaled in the streets night 
and day to prevent the public indignation from bre iking into tumult and revo- 
lution. Regiment after regiment, artillery, infantry and cavalry, have been 
arrayed to overawe the fierce passions which tyrannical legislation aroused among 
the multitude of our citizens. 

But the reverence of the people fir constitutional obligations yet remained, 
and they have submitted year after year. When that restraint shall no longer 
exist; when the obligation of the constitutional compact, which forbids the 
division of a State without its own consent, shall be suspended, then I tell you 
that impprial city will throw off the odious government to which she now yields 
a reluctant allegiance; she will repel the hateful cabal at Albany, which has so 
long abused its power over her ; and with her own flag, sustained by the courage 
and devotion of her own gallant sons, she will, as a free city, open wide her gates 
to the civilization and commerce of the world. 

Mr. Speaker, I shall b« reluctant to give a vote that will constrain the gen- 
tleman from Florida, against his judgment, to serve u[jon this cmmittee. T 
shall regret to insist that a gentleman shall occupy a position in which he states 
it to be his sincere belief that he cannot render any good service ; and yet I 
shall deplore to see any State unrepresented upon that committee. The hopes 
and the fears of those whose solicitude is now occupied with the condition of this 
country, will go to the council-chambers of that committee. The rights, the 
interests, and the opinions of every State, ought to be represented there. While 
I canjiot, cf course, permit myself to criticise the judgment which the gentleman 
from Florida places upon his own duty, yet. I cannot bring myself to believe that 
it is consistent with the obligations resting upon every State, or that it is con- 
sistent with the duties we yet owe to each other, that the Representative of any 
State shall refuse to contribute his rime, his attention, his conscientious and ear- 
nest eftbrts, in connection with the Representatives of associate States;, to devise 
some mode by which we can be extricated from our present danger. Conscious of 
my inability to meet the demand^ of this occasion, when it is only the voice of com- 
munitits and States that will command attention; yet again, I would imper.-onate 
my city; Liberty, Patriotism, and Justice illuminate her countenance; she ex- 
tends her arms, as if to embrace a sister, towards every State ; on her brow is the 
diadem of Empire; on her shield is her motto, '■'■ Excelsior ;" and on her lips, in 
tremulous and imploring accents, "Peace;" and I wdl summon into this pres- 
ence the august form of that majestic city, and ask you to hear and heed her 
appeal. 



McGiLL k WiTHEEOW, Steam Press Printers, Washington, D. C. 



54 W 








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